Inside Out: Pixar’s Most Groundbreaking Movie?

It’s open for debate amongst Pixar fans when it comes to choosing the best (or favourite) of their movies, but where does Pete Docter’s ‘Inside Out’ rank in the multiple Oscar-winning filmography?

More specifically, where does it lie in terms of ambition and is it as groundbreaking as we’re led to believe?

When asked to consider Pixar’s most original and adventurous productions, the likes of ‘WALL-E’ and ‘Up’ spring to mind. ‘WALL-E’ for its (virtually silent) opening 40 minutes, which works superbly in relation to engaging an audience through comedy and emotion without the use of any dialogue. And ‘Up’ for the audacity to make an animated film about a grumpy old man: here the story and heartbreaking subtext plays a massive role in making it work. Both are laden with emotion, which is what ‘Inside Out’ is all about.

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Similarly, ‘Ratatouille’’s complex narrative deserves applause for seamlessly connecting rats to people and to fine dining in a plausible, extremely sweet story. And let’s not forget ‘Toy Story 3′s’ excellent prison break style flick that perfectly rounds off an all-time great trilogy.

But ‘Inside Out’ is a different beast altogether. The concept is arguably the most challenging and indeed risky since ‘WALL-E’s dialogue free first half - no one knew if that’d even work, but it did.

Here we’ve got a movie that, for a large portion of its duration, takes place in the mind of a little girl named Riley. The way in which her various emotions come to life was always likely to be key to whether they’d pull it off or not, and it’s great to say that Pixar do so spectacularly.

Not only are we introduced to very polarising characters (Joy, Fear, and a number of others) but we’re transported to various ‘locations’ within the mind, such as Imagination Land, and bear witness to the process of how memories are stored (and forgotten), as well as the developmental stages from childhood to adulthood (aka puberty). Yet all of these aspects need to work in harmony and function smoothly as a unit - thus a canny representation of how the human mind actually works healthily in real life.

After seeing ‘Inside Out’ it’s clear that Pixar are not only on top form - and that’s a genuine praise rather than a bandwagon hop - with a concept and execution that is their most ambitious, most complex and potentially most successful to date. What’s more, it weaves a solid narrative, relatable and often likeable characters into a tale that oozes charm and a heckuva lot of wit.

For so long the likes of ‘WALL-E’ has ruled the roost as the most interesting, ambitious Pixar movie, but now, in 2015, we have a new champ that takes the crown.

It seems unthinkable that Pixar will be able to come up with something more daring and challenging than ‘Inside Out’. But, as they’ve proven time and time again, they’ve always got something special up their sleeves.

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‘Inside Out’ is in UK cinemas from 24 July.

Picture credit: Disney Pixar